


Introductions

by tommygirl



Category: Joan of Arcadia
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-24
Updated: 2013-04-24
Packaged: 2017-12-09 09:47:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/772799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tommygirl/pseuds/tommygirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kevin has a conversation with God.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Introductions

Kevin stared out at the playground, watching the children running around and jumping off the swings. It was his favorite place to come when he needed a break from life. The past year had been crazy with his sister’s sickness, the lawsuit, and everything else that had come down on his family – so much so that sometimes this was the only place he felt any peace. It seemed wrong somehow though. That this place, full of people making use of the one thing he no longer possessed, could make him feel so calm. But it did.

Kevin observed how carefree the children were, how unaware they were of how easily things could change. He had been that way. He was an athlete, after all. It was a given that he would have a functioning pair of legs. It was a given that walking wasn’t something he would have to worry about.

But, for some reason, God or fate or whatever had a different idea in mind. Sometimes he wondered if it was because he took it for granted. Never really appreciated how lucky he was to be able to walk from his bed to the bathroom. Never aware of how amazing it was to be able to do a slam dunk on the basketball court. Logically, he knew it didn’t work that way. Okay, he _hoped_ it didn’t work that way.

It was just bad luck. It was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was every other cliché that he had heard since the accident.

“Could you hand me my ball?”

Kevin looked up and noticed a young red-headed girl staring at him. She pointed to the foot of his wheelchair where her ball was wedged into its frame. He nodded, picked it up, and tossed the ball to her.

“Thanks.”

Kevin nodded, expecting her to run back to her playing, but she didn’t move. She stared at him and said, “Things happen for a reason.”

“What?”

She motioned to the wheelchair and said, “It can either be a defining moment or you can allow it to define you, Kevin. The choice is yours.”

“How did you know my name?” Kevin asked, looking around and expecting to find one of his siblings giggling in the corner. There was no one else around, no one that he knew anyway. It didn’t make any sense, but, oddly enough, it didn’t disturb him.

“I know everything about you,” she said. She looked down at her jumper and said, “It’s the outfit, right? Hard to take me serious in this outfit, but sometimes kids are the wisest creatures out there. People tend to pay more attention when a kid says something useful; they're not as abrupt as they would be with an adult.”

“Okay, I think I need to go,” Kevin replied, slowly moving his chair back a bit.

“Your sister and mother believe in me. Why can’t you?”

Kevin stopped and stared at the small child. He had to be on some sort of hidden camera show, but weren’t there rules about mocking cripples on national television? He studied the small girl’s posture and she gave off no vibes of joking. Maybe he was hallucinating? Maybe someone had slipped drugs into his coffee?

Part of him thought it best to leave, but he couldn’t. He was a reporter and this was definitely an interesting story. Kevin asked, “You know my sister?”

“She does a few things for me from time to time.”

“Huh?”

“The great thing about Joan is her tremendous faith. She believes in things, _in people_. She believes in you.”

“Again...huh?”

“I’m God, Kevin.”

“You’re telling me that my sister talks to God? Like _the_ God? _Bible_ God?” Off the young girl’s nod, Kevin shook his head and responded, “No way. Have you met my sister? She’s not the most godlike type.”

“I’ve never understood the need to define a type. Isn’t it enough to believe in me?”

“My sister talks to God…”

“Do you remember Charlotte? She said that Joan had a special connection to the universe? Is that so hard to believe?”

“Honestly...yeah,” Kevin paused. The more he thought about, the more it made sense, which freaked him out. All those projects like the boat and the yard sale and god knows what else...were those all God’s idea? Kevin stared at the little girl and said, “Charlotte also said that I would dance at my wedding.”

The girl or God or his crazy delusion stared at him for a moment, one of those meticulous types that made Kevin think his every thought was obvious. Of course, if it was God, then he guessed his thoughts _were_ obvious.

“Your sister took this much better.”

“If you haven’t noticed, my sister is nuts.”

The little girl smiled and said, “Your sister is much more open to things than you are. Always so cynical. Always waiting for the floor to drop out from underneath you.”

Kevin shook the handles of his wheelchair and replied, “Comes with the territory.”

“Why?”

“It just does.”

“Your sister worries about you. She thinks I should perform a miracle for you, but she doesn’t see that I already have,” the girl replied. She turned to walk away.

That was it? She makes this big proclamation that she’s God and then walks away after talking nonsense? No wonder his sister was so crazy. He called out, “Wait a second.”

“I thought you didn’t believe.”

“I thought I was going to dance at my wedding.”

She smiled knowingly. “You will.”

“Dance dance? Or wheel dance?”

She sighed. _God sighed? Who knew?_ “Life is full of opportunities that grow out of the choices we make every day, Kevin.”

“Doesn’t answer my question.”

“I’m not into providing easy answers. I prefer people figure it out on their own. They appreciate it more.”

“So you’re not going to tell me?”

“Not today,” she replied. She walked off and waved to him as she disappeared with her ball into the group of children.

Kevin stared off in the distance for awhile, trying to wrap his brain around what had happened. Things like this didn’t happen. Only crazy people in psych wards talked to God. He certainly didn’t. He wasn’t even sure he believed in God most of the time.

In a weird way, it made sense. Explained so many things that before he had written off to his sister’s odd personality or to luck of the draw. He would have to talk to Joan when he got home. Tell her about this, gage her reaction, and then he could properly decide if someone was spiking the Girardi’s water or if maybe, just maybe, he _would_ dance at his wedding.

_{Fin}_

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt: Kevin & Little Girl God with the lines "I thought you didn't believe." + "I thought I was going to dance at my wedding."


End file.
